My Heroine

All the major news networks now have segments on Heroes. It appears to be a time in our history when we need to bring them to mass media to remind us that altruism is a virtue. Some are soldiers who have died in the line of duty under heroic circumstances. Some are individuals who have found special ways to give of their time, energy and money to make a difference and help others in need. Heroes are amazing examples of unselfish concern for the welfare of others entirely without ulterior motive: selflessness. It is the philosophical doctrine that right action is that which produces the greatest benefit to others. And then there are Heroines, women who possess heroic qualities. I personally have a heroine whose story I would like to tell. She is Josephine Nalugo, a young woman in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. I first met Josephine in July of 2007 when she emailed my company asking for a donation of a baby carrier. She introduced herself as a member of the Children in Africa Project. This was her inquiry: “When I had my first daughter, I went through a lot of hard times when it came to carrying my babyto work, and to my garden about 3 kilometers on Saturday. I devised means by using a cloth and tied her on my back as my mom used to do, or lift her on my shoulders because I wanted her to be close to me all the time because I wanted to breastfeed her. I had my second daughter, Charlene, who is now 6 months and not much has changed as far as carrying her is concerned. I devised means using ordinary cloth. I have managed through with God’s Guidance and protection. This is her response after receiving the carrier:

Because I have interests in breastfeeding, I read a lot of information on breastfeeding and here I came to read information by La Leche League USA when they organized their 50^th anniversary. I read about you as one of the sponsors. Thanks for your continued support to breastfeeding. I sent an email to your company and I did not know who I was sending it to. It is a God sent person for having decided to send me the “MAGIC bag I call it. Iwant to see myself independent in the near future supporting breastfeeding and othermothers going through difficult situations. I have a dream of happy children and happy mothers.

Then in Dec. of 2007 she wrote: “I have started making simple bags for mothers to carry the baby’s clothes when they are outside home. I include messages such as breastfeeding is a lifetime investment; babies who are breastfed run lower risks of diarrhea; mothers who breastfeed run lower risks of ovarian cancer. Today at a workshop to protect, promote and support breast feeding they really liked the idea. I and my baby have received certificates for being the best performing IBFAN Uganda members. IBFAN (International Baby Food Action Network) is a global Breastfeeding Initiative for Child Survival, a worldwide initiative to reduce child mortality by promoting early, exclusive and continued breastfeeding. Their aim is to improve the health and well being of babies and young children through the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding. www.iban.org The certificate was for her outstanding contribution to the work on Infant and Young Child Feeding and Maternal Health. Breastfeeding within the first hour saves a million lives! A representative from UNICEF, World Food Program, liked Josephine’s initiative because it was the first of its kind supplementing their work in the area where the support groups were located. Subsequently In July of 2008, she won a photo contest with WABA (The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action) that appeared on their Action folders. She also received membership in the International Lactation Consultant Association and was invited to attend their annual conference in the USA and in Austria. She could not raise the money for the US but managed the one for Vienna. At this time she had managed to train over 20 mothers in her mother support group and attended a course in Integrated Infant and Young Child Feeding organized by IBFAN, Uganda. She was among the 15 people selected out of 50 to become national trainers of trainers. A door was opening for her. In July of 08 the Wisconsin Association of Lactation Consultants sent her $500 to contribute to her Breastfeeding Week and she bought a laminating machine for $200 so she could make feeding cards for mothers and babies. That month she also hosted a radio show on breastfeeding every Tuesday from 5-6 pm. This was the first for World Breastfeeding Week on that particular radio station. She simply went to the Director of Radio Sapiensa and asked for a free talk show and it was granted. Along with this radio show news she sent a photo of a new mother in her support group along with this description: “The baby she is breastfeeding has Hydrocephalus and was operated on a month ago fixed with a shunt in his head with my intervention. She was abandoned by her husband because of the baby’s disability. She is one of the lucky few I have started supporting. Our support group makes table mats, wallets, mats, baskets and other crafts from local materials that we sell to get more money for our project. By 2009 Josephine was working with over 300 mothers and finding it overwhelming with limited resources. She also was having difficulty with the mothers living with HIV/AIDS because they cannot afford the replacement feed the health workers in the local health centers advise them to use instead of breastfeeding. That November, however, WHO(World Health Organization), on the eve of World Aids Day, released new recommendations on treatment, prevention and infant feeding based on the latest research. For the first time WHO recommended that HIV positive mothers or their infants take patient friendly antiretroviral drugs while breastfeeding to prevent transmission. In December she announced that she will be coming to the US in July 2010 to present at the International Lactation Consultant Association’s 25^th Anniversary in San Antonio, TX. Her presentation is called “Reaching Vulnerable Babies, Girls, and Women in Africa‚ An Experience of Uganda. You can read more about Josephine at WABA MSTF ‚ E-newsletter V6N2. (MSTF is Mother Support Task Force) And she was featured in African Woman Magazine, Uganda Issue 29, June 10, 2009 in an article called “Breaking Barriers, Nurturing a Nation . Josephine also works full time for COMBRA, the Community Based Rehabilitation Alliance,an indigenous NGO dedicated to the empowerment and training of personnel who go into communities to work with those living with disabilities. This impressive woman has made a significant contribution and still wants to do more in a world where an estimated 1.5 million babies die worldwide every year because they are not breastfed. She read about the Millennium Development Goals that developing countries are trying to achieve before 2015. Goal four is “Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five . Goal five is “Improving Maternal health . When she found that 78 out of 1000 births and 134 out of 1000 live births of infants and children in Uganda die before their first and fifth birthdays respectively, she devoted her life to the passion of reclaiming breastfeeding. She is a wonderful example of selflessness and right action that hopefully will inspire others.